viewers on pbs in america and also around the globe. after months of gloomy financial news, tonight, some encouraging signs that america's economy is gaining momentum and creating more jobs. figures out today show unemployment has dropped to its lowest rate in almost four years. 12 million americans are still out of work, but falling unemployment has surprised most analysts. both barack obama and mitt romney were quick to seize on the numbers. here is our north america editor. >> snow in downtown denver slow down the rush hour, that millions of americans have no need form morning haste -- no need for morning haze. how to create more jobs has been central for this election. unemployment rose after barack obama became president, peaking at just over 10%. today's figure is the first time it has been under 8% for 44 months. >> this morning, we found out that the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level since i took office. [applause] >> the good news comes at the end of a bad week for the president where he was widely derided for a lackluster debate performance. now some feel he is ba

pbs and other things. i love pbs and big bird, and i actually like you, too. lou: president obama not able to resist since then referring to big bird yesterday and today, and here's what he said. >> for all of you moms and kids out there, don' worry, somebody's finally getting tough on big bird. [cheers and applause] rounding him up. elmo's got to watch out too. governor romney plans to let wall street run wild, but he's bringing the hammer down on "sesame street," it makes sense. lou: the president was trying to make a joke, but, mr. president, wait a minute. turns out big bird is deserving of considerable public attention. upon further investigation, it appears the last thing the president should be doing is to minimize what's happening to the taxpayer money because of big bird, all his friends like elmo and jim lehrer. the president should be paying attention to the count to help him with the numbers, and the numbers are troubling. on a day in which the congressional budget office announced the 2012 budget deficit came in at $11 trillion for a fourth straight year, turns out our ou

today. >> i'm sorry, jim, i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs. i like pbs, i love big bird. i like you, too, but i'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from china. >> thank goodness somebody is finally getting tough on big bird. that's about time. we didn't know that big bird was driving the federal deficit. but that's what we heard last night. >> bret: in all seriousness, pbs released a statement today and they said, quote, we are very disappointed that pbs became a political target in the presidential debate. governor romney does not understand the value of american people place on public broadcasting and the outstanding return on investment the system delivers to our nation. the federal investment and public broadcasting equals about one, 100th of 1% of the federal budget, elimination of funding would have virtually no impact on the nation's debt, yet the loss to the american public would be devastating. there are some people who say that that was not the best thing to mention, bringing up big bird. >> you're talking about somebody who does like pbs, but w

. he will not borrow money to pay for a program. he said he would cut pbs and big bird. he was very specific about what he would do. in certain places though romney questioned obama and obama just looked at him, when obama said basically you get a tax cut or a tax deduction for moving jobs overseas. mitt romney said i've been in business last 25 years, i don't know what you're talking about. basically obama was vague last night. but romney came with specifics. jon: cory, you described the debate as being sort of very specific and bordering on wonky but isn't that what people are looking for right now? aren't they looking for specifics and numbers and ideas here? >> i think you're absolutely right about that. always interesting to me tv commentators and others complain how debates and political discourse is boring and turning american people off whether this is exactly the time they should pay close attention. when they do this is when they see the contrast between the two candidates standing on same stage. if you look reports come out this morning, fact checkers, "l.a. times", "wall

"newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the first presidential debate is behind them, but the two sides went at it again today. republicans said their man took it to the president in the denver duel. the obama camp charged the truth got trampled in the process. >> la night i thought was a great opportunity for the american people to see two very different visions for the country. and -- (applause) -- and i think it was helpful to be able to describe those visions. i said the president's vision is trickle-down government and i don't think that's what america believes in. i see instead a prosperity that comes through freedom. >> reporter: romney's reception at the event wa

was not the first time pbs has been a targeted. it was maybe the most prominent platform. >> i'm is going to stop the subsidy to pbs. i like pbs. i love big bird. i like you too. but i'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for. >> reporter: seconds after governor romney uttered those world twitter nearly tumbled over. at one point 17,000 big bird tweets per minute. "the social network" said it was the most tweeted about political event in u.s. history. ari fleischer, big bird needs to ask dora the explorer how she manages to live without taxpayer money. try it big bird. joan rivers, attention pbs, if mitt romney fires big bird i'm ready to fill in. i got the perfect outfit. president obama did not pounce directly during the debates but he did thursday on the trail. >> when he was asked what he would actually do to cut the deficit and reduce spending, he said he would eliminate funding for public television. thank goodness somebody is finally getting tough on big bird. it's about time. we didn't know that big bird was driving the federal de

. >> reporter: the president attacked romney's plan to cut subsidies to pbs and his position was so different from what he said in the past he didn't recognize who he was debating. >> whoever was on stage last night doesn't want to be held accountable for what mitt romney has been saying in the last year. >> obama and biden want to raise taxes by a trillion dollars. yes we do. >> reporter: biden said the super wealthy needs to pay more. romney says that will kill jobs. another wild card in this race comes later this morning. the government releases its september unemployment report. experts see that jobless rate rising from the current 8.1%. >> we'll be talking about that a little later. susan mcginnis in washington. thank you so much. word this morning that a rare but deadly meningitis outbreak has the potential to get bigger. it's possible thousands of people are at risk. so far at least 35 people in six states have contracted the fungal meningitis. five have died. the shots behind the disease were shipped to 23 states. it's unclear how many people received injections. in tennessee 1,000 pe

fact that the president of corporation for pbs patricia harrison was vice chair of the party and people are not even talking about that. >> it depends on where you stand. brilliant pbs to hire her to lobby for more money from the government. >> we don't have a lot of money and we can't borrow from china. >> one hundredth of 1% is pbs. >> one one millionth of 1 percent is the other way. >> jon: speaking of gaffes and how the media handled them. next big debate is the vice presidential debate. what is going to be, i guess the means, as vice president biden goes up against ryan. >> you are all in chains and middle-class is buried. the media picked up on these on the way dan quayle there wouldn't be a debate. they would have biden in an undisclosed question. >> jon: big vice presidential debate comes next week, you can with a watch it on fox news channel on thursday night and more news watch ahead. >> first, if you see something that you feel shows evidence of media bias. you have twitter you can tweet us. are the polls biased or is it the coverage? >> bring in the numbers, when it c

tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: creating new enriching experiences. through intel's philosophy of "invest you for the future" we're helping bring these new capabilities to market. we're investing billions of dollars in r&d around the globe to have the heart of tomorrow's innovations. by investing today in technologicalled advances here at intel, we can help make a better tomorrow. >> and by the bill and melinda gates foundation. dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live a healthy, productive life. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the national debate over voter identification laws took a new turn in pennsylvania today. a state judge ruled that officials must wait until 2013 to begin enforcing a new law. ray suarez has the story. >> suarez: the decision means pennsylvania voters will not have to present photo identif

did have his own awkward moderator moment. >> i'm sorry, jim, i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs. i like pbs, i love big bird, i actually like you too. >> reporter: one of the most surprising parts of the president's performance was what he did not say. no mention of romney's infamous 47% remark, no talk of bain capital, nothing about romney's own taxes. he did play the "romney is a hypocrite" card when it comes to health care. >> the irony is that we've seen this model work really well. in massachusetts. because governor romney did a good thing, working with democrats in the state to set up what is essentially the identical model and, as a consequence, people are covered there. it hasn't destroyed job. >> reporter: romney, who ran from his massachusetts health care plan during the gop primaries, now used it to tack to the middle for the general election. >> i like the way we did it in massachusetts. i like the fact that in my state, we had republicans and democrats come together and work together. what you did, instead, was to push through a plan without a single republican vote

that he would cut funding from pbs. lavar burton says that it outraged him as well and will talk about that straight ahead. a high schooler ridiculed for wearing a mitt romney t-shirt to school. we will tell you what happened there. it is our get real. christine will take a look at what's coming up in bus. >> a little thing called the september jobs report. >> oh, that. >> it could be pretty important. will it sway the upcoming presidential election? plus, we have gotten used to $3 a gallon. $4. how about $6? it is not pain at the pump. it is agony. details next. jack, you're a little boring. boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire [ male announcer ] use any citi card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts, more events, more experiences. [ jack ] hey, who's boring now? [ male announcer ] get more access with the citi card. [ crowd cheering, mouse clicks ] bp has paid overthe people

opportunities to go after romney. such as this moment. >> i like pbs. i like big bird. i like you too. but i am not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from chon ina to p for it. a wide opening. the president took more than 14 hours to come up with a come? back. >> thank goodness, somebody is finally getting tough on big bird. it is about time. >> reporter: many top democrats suggest one of the problems may be one common to incumbents, the president has lived in a bubble, rarely challenged. the obama campaign acknowledged they will conduct a reassessment before the next debate. jake tapper, abc news, traveling with the president in madison, wisconsin. >> such a fascinating point, so true if you think about it, the president inyears , you don't stand next to some one saying you are wrong. challenged. and, that has to be a very different situation and mind set for the president. it was an interesting point. >> you know what i want to know what percentage of the country understood anything in that debate? taxes, you know, economics, way over everyone's head, right? >> needed

first time pbs has been targeted. it was, maybe, the most prominent platform. >> i'm going to stop subsidy to pbs. i'm going to stop other things. i like pbs, i love big bird actually like you, too. but i'm not going to keep spending money on things to boro money from china to pay for it. >> reporter: the second he uttered those words, twitter nearly tumbled over. 17,000 big bird tweets per minute. the social network said it was the most tweeted about political event in u.s. history. ari fleischer, press secretary to george w. bush big bird needs to ask dora the explorer how she manages to survive without federal money. try it big bird. you'll be just fine. joan rivers attention pbs, if mitt romney fire big bird i'm ready to fill in. i've got the perfect outfit. president obama did not pounce directly during the debates but did thursday on the trail. >> when asked what he would actually do to cut the deficit and reduce spending he said he would eliminate funding for public television. thank goodness somebody is finally getting tough on big bird! it's about time. we didn't know that

feel the same way. >> i'm sorry, jim, i'm going to stop the subcy die to pbs and some other thing. i like big bird and you too. i'm not going to keep spending money to brother money from china to pay for it again. >> reporter: the two men will square off again on october 16th. vice presidential candidates square off next week on thursday. >> thank you so much. you just mentioned it vice presidential candidates joe biden and paul ryan holding their debate one week from today. overseas now an escalating violence between turkey and syria. overnight turkey launched border strikes into syria. several syrian soldiers have been killed. artillery attacks were retaliati retaliation. nato held an emergency meeting to asking syria to end the violations of international law. >> reporter: turkey took action against syria after a deadly shelling. among the dead a 6-year-old boy. several people were also injured including a police officer. turkey says it retaliated in points in syria detected with radar. the united states is in contact with turkish officials. >> it's a very dangerous situation. all

the subsidy to pbs and some other things. i like big bird and you too. i'm not going to keep spending money to borrow money from china to pay for it again. >> reporter: the two men will square off again on october 16th. vice presidential candidates will get their turn next week. they square off in their first and only debate on thursday. >> thank you so much. you just mentioned it vice presidential candidates joe biden and paul ryan holding their debate one week from today. president obama and mitt romney debate two more times this month. they will answer questions in a town hall style debate october 16th and debate foreign affairs on october 22nd. overseas now an escalating violence between turkey and syria. overnight turkey launched artillery strikes into syria. several syrian soldiers have been killed. artillery attacks were retaliation for mortar fire that landed in a turkish border down killing civilians. nato held an emergency meeting to asking syria to end the violations of international law. >> reporter: turkey took action against syria after a deadly shelling from th

about what he had to say about the battle over funding pbs. >> i'm sorry, jim, i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs and stop other things. i like pbs and love big bird and actually like you, too. i'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for it. >> shannon: jijim lehrer did nt look happy about the possibility of funding cut. big bird has been out talking about this. pbs released this statement saying as a supporter of education governor romney should be a supporter of public education yet he he is willing to wipe out services that reach the vast majority of americans. we know big bird was one of the big twitter hash tags and top ecktopics that night. is this a distraction now, this that we are having to talk about the battle over funding pbs. >> absolutely. a false choice as well. look at the particular. governor romney made it clear. we have $16 trillion worth of debt. 5'" additional trillion since this president has been in office. we are borrowing that money largely from china. and so you look at programs and as governor romney outlined hi

there was this. >> i'm sorry, jim, i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs, i'm going to stop other things. i like pbs, i like big bird, i actually like you too, but i'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for it. >> reporter: the mere mention of cutting funds to big bird sent the social media world into high gear. pictures like this with big bird on the ropes. president obama on the campaign trail. >> i mean, thank goodness somebody is finally getting tough on big bird. >> reporter: the pentagon, which has been a close ally of the eight-foot tall bird was asked about it at the briefing. >> i'm not going to get into politics here. i wouldn't want to ruffle any feathers so to speak. >> reporter: but big bird has some conservatives a little plucked. they argue that it's time to stop funding public broadcast programs like sesame street, npr and the pbs news hour. brian darling is with the con zefbtive heritage foundation. >> it's not at all. using public funds to fund entertainment, furthermore, it's a waste of money when there are private resources

he would cut funds to employer pbs, despite his love for certain sesame street character. >> i am sorry, jim, i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs. i love big bird. i like you, too, but i am not one keep spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for. >> we will expand the debate with third-party candidates after the headlines. turkey has launched strikes inside syria after a bomb fired from syrian territory killed five turkish civilians. the victims were a family of five and a village near the syrian border. the turkish deputy prime minister said his government had every right to respond with force. >> there has been in attack and citizens have lost their lives. there is definite response to international law. turkey is a nato member. certain nato treaty articles bring about certain responsibilities when one of its members is attacked. we're not blinded by rage, but we will protect our rights. >> wednesday's violence marked the day this cross border flare- up between the two countries since the uprising in syria began nearly two years ago. there have been unconfir

is defending pbs? >> i'm not saying. >> that's it for us, thanks for watching, have a great weekend, bye. >> did mitt romney's post debate victory hit a speed bump with the unemployment rate? we'll break down what the numbers mean. this is special report. good evening, i'm bret baier. president obama is hailing the jobs report, showing a drop from 8.1% to 7.8, as a sign the country has come too far to turn back now. his republican challenger says the new numbers are not the sign of a true recovery, in fact, he says they're telling a far different story. the government's household survey says that 873,000 people entered the work force. but the employer survey found 114,000 new jobs created, 10,000 of those in government. so, the difference, about 760,000 are apparently not full-time stable jobs, what's known as the real unemployment mark, the unemployed and those too discouraged to look for work remains unchanged at 14.7%. white house correspondent wendell goler begins our coverage of the report and the spin. >> two days after a disappointing debate with mitt romney, president obama

for women worldwide is going to air on pbs on monday and tuesday. >>> there is more positive news on the home front, if you're in the market to sell. home prices on the rise for the third straight month. we'll tell you where. like myself... ing i had pain in my pelvic area... and bleeding that wasn't normal for me. she said i had to go to the doctor. turned out i had uterine cancer, a type of gynecologic cancer. i received treatment and we're confident i'll be fine. please listen to your body. if something doesn't feel right for two weeks or longer, see your doctor. get the inside knowledge about gynecologic cancers. knowing can make all the difference in the world. silverado! the most dependable, longest lasting, full-size pickups on the road. so, what do you think? [ engine revs ] i'll take it. [ male announcer ] it's chevy truck month. now during chevy truck month, get 0% apr financing for 60 months or trade up to get the 2012 chevy silverado all-star edition with a total value of $8,000. hurry in before they're all gone! >>> just two weeks after its launch, apple is issuing a a r

can't not talk about big bird. he's become the big talker. pbs, though, just a small fraction of the federal budget, as obama is quick to point out. so why do you think the push by romney to end the funding? >> for big bird? >> well, for pbs, sure. >> right. well, he said he was a fan of big bird, but i think he used that as an example of a federally funded organization that he believes doesn't need that taxpayer money. it certainly does well with its own private funding drives. i mean, we're forever seeing pbs funding drives, let's face it. so governor romney was just simply illustrating a point that he would be willing to cut even popular things like big bird because he doesn't see that it's a federal responsibility. >> mitt romney now says that he was wrong about that 47% comment as well. listen to this. >> clearly in a campaign with hundreds if not thousands of speeches and queion and answer sessions, now and then you're going to say something that doesn't come out right. in this case, i said something that's just completely wrong. >> president obama, surprising a lot of peop

programs that have to be eliminated if we have to borrow money. look, i love pbs, i love big bird, but big bird is going to go. he would end subsidies for pbs. got a laugh. blew up twitter. everybody was talking about it. i tweeted i think we need a fact check, does mitt romney really love big bird. seemed to get attention. people were terested in us going back and looking whether or not he really does, what is mitt romney's record on big bird? >> moving on to something a little more substantive than sesame street. not going to find a lot of people out there who think the president won last night. he really by all accounts. both side of the aisle, a lackluster kind of dry, flat, performance. is that what you are hearing as well? >> rob, the people that think the president won were the ones that were die hard in his corner or the people that are getting a paycheck from the campaign office in chicago. the president came out, a little flat, he came out on the defensive. never really able to gain his ground. mitt romney though, you have to give him credit. he was really prepared. went through

. >> he just told the moderator who works at pbs, i'm going to throw your ass out on the street, old man! you -- not only you, but all of those free loloading muppets. that takes not just one ball, but two, two enormous balls. ha-ha-ha! >> mitt romney won the debate last night, which means president obama lost two fights on his anniversary last night. the president seemed a little bit out of it last night. he had all the enthusiasm of a husband talking to his wife's friends at a dinner party. he kept looking down and frowning. it was like he was trying to find something on apple maps. the only thing that could have salvaged obama's performance is if the body of bin laden could have fell from the ceiling onto the stage. >> obama could have waterboarded alladin, put down blue, deported dora the explorer and won walking away. romney won with the sound off. look up, look up. what are you writing's so important? oh, that's -- that is impressive work. >> oh, my gosh, i love that. >> finally, to another race, one as close as the presidential contest. >> family circle's, cookie bake-off, ann